Pensioner fined £865 for snaring badger in West Lothian

A pensioner who accidentally snared a badger instead of the fox that was killing his prize chickens was fined £865 for wildlife crimes yesterday.

William Stirling (73) set the traps on a hillside behind his house in Torphichen after foxes repeatedly raided his chicken run.

Stirling believed his plan was foolproof.

The free running wire snares he bought were legal – but he staked the nooses too close to the ground for foxes and caught a badger instead.

Shona McJannet, prosecuting, said one of Stirling’s neighbours called the Scottish Society for the Protection of Animals on February 5 when she saw a badger that appeared trapped or injured behind her house.

SSPCA inspectors found the animal – a protected species – trapped around the waist by one of Stirling’s snares.

She said: “The snare was cut and the badger removed. It was distressed and the snare had causing skin trauma in multiple areas.”